Vannus gondwanensis, a new Gangamopteris fructification from the Transvaal, South Africa

Abstract

A seventh distinctive type of Permo-Carboniferous fructification of the class Glossopteridae is described. The interpretation and affinities of Vanuus- the Fan type, are discussed. The fructification is almost certainly generically, and possibly specifically identical with a fossil plant originally described by Zeiller from the Karharbari beds of India as Schizoneura wardi. One of the new specimens has been found in an axillary position of growth on a leaf identified as Gangamopteris cf. clarkeana Feistmantel, a species recorded formerly only from Australia and Tasmania. This fossil plant provides a further example of the unusual fructifications of this southern class of plants and, through its relationships, demonstrates once more the close affinity which existed between the floras of component parts of Gondwanaland, at that time. In addition the fructification exhibits a certain resemblance to Vojnovskya paradoxa Neiburg, a lower Permian species from the Angara floral province. The significance of a possible relationship is discussed.